WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is breaking with progressives on some hot-button issues ahead of the expected launch of his re-election campaign, laying the groundwork for trying to neutralize the politically thorny issues Republicans hope to harm him with.
The president has said he will sign legislation to repeal a new DC criminal law that eased mandatory sentencing and penalties, provoking a backlash from progressives who said the law was sensible, and that meddling would undermine DC’s sovereignty.
Last week, NBC News reported that the Biden administration was considering reactivating family detention for migrants entering the US. illegally, drawing sharp criticism from immigration advocates who are already angry with Biden for adopting tough asylum policies they say reflect Trump-era rules.
And on Monday, the Biden administration gave the green light to a major oil drilling project in Alaska, drawing pushback from environmentalists and Democrats who want to phase out fossil fuels.
Biden’s breaks with the left have a common thread: He is doing so primarily over cultural issues where his party is politically vulnerable, seeking to obstruct avenues for the GOP to move forward with key swing voters. Instead, Biden is trying to keep his focus on the economic problems facing the middle class, where Democrats have advantages, such as lowering drug prices and preserving Social Security.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats lost voters who listed immigration as their top issue by a 48-point margin and voters who listed crime as their top issue by a 16-point margin, exit polls showed. . Voters trusted Republicans more than Democrats on immigration (by 6 points) and crime (by 9 points).
“I would remind the administration that they are the ones that ended the detention of families,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, DN.J. “It would be horrible policy to reinstate it. It would be an affirmation of Stephen Miller and his politics. And I think there are much better ways to deal with the challenges we have at the border, including families, than that.»
Asked if reviving family detention would affect his support for Biden in 2024, Menendez said, «We’ll see how the administration plays out and then we can make all kinds of judgments about it.»
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., president of the The Congressional Progressive Caucus said in an interview that its members are «very frustrated» by Biden’s position on GOP-led DC crime reduction «because it feels like a betrayal of the fundamental tenet of DC government.» He said that on immigration, an asylum campaign like Trump’s would be «betraying our immigrant base.» Jayapal said he is speaking directly to officials and is concerned that «there are people within the administration who are giving very bad advice» to the president.
Still, he said he continues to support Biden for re-election, even as he will continue to demand «better policy» from him in some areas.
“I still think that in the vast majority of areas it has been excellent. And he is the most progressive president we have ever had,” Jayapal said. «So it doesn’t change my point of view, at this point, anyway. I still believe that he’s done phenomenal things for this country… Sometimes I literally just sit there and I can’t believe that we’ve done the kind of transformation we have made.
White House defends Biden’s positions
When asked about the creeping criticism of Biden’s recent actions, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the party remains united behind him, citing victories that have united Democrats, from new judges to regulations on guns, climate change and Medicare.
«President Biden’s values and agenda have demonstrably unified congressional Democrats across the party spectrum, as well as the country at large, and are consistent with what he stood for and fought for for many years,» Bates said. . “These same principles galvanized Democrats when President Biden garnered the most votes of any candidate in history, when he led the best midterm result for a new president in decades, and now.”
Republicans see political motivations for Biden to take his recent positions on the DC immigration and crime bill. Some see parallels with Bill Clinton’s attempts to triangulate against the left of his party after the 1994 midterm elections.
“Well, he said he is running for re-election. He looks like a guy running for re-election,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
During her first campaign, Clinton popularized the term «Souljah Sister Momentafter he aggressively repudiated the hip-hop artist’s controversial comments about race. But Biden seems to be taking a calmer, more policy-focused path toward independence from him.
On crime, Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said Biden is “just following common sense,” adding: “I think it shows that, first, he’s probably running; and two, that he is trying to find a way to protect the members from him more in the middle.”
«Now that they’ve lost the House, he’s trying to triangulate, which makes sense,» Graham said. Biden’s “first two years were unabashedly very progressive, very liberal. And now you see him making an adjustment.»
Progressives give space to Biden
For now, the left seems willing to give Biden space to position himself against a possible return of former President Donald Trump, without imposing strict litmus tests.
Many of Biden’s former progressive or skeptical rivals are backing his re-election bid, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. Despite her more recent moves, they are pleased with her actions on issues like student debt relief, pandemic relief, expanding the safety net and gun regulations.
Some Biden allies roll their eyes at left-leaning commentators criticizing him, seeing parallels with those who dismissed him as an out-of-touch relic in the 2020 Democratic primary before he hit the field with a variety of political positions. center left. .
Still, it’s a high-profile move for Biden to simultaneously unify the Democratic base and court swing voters. Straying too far from the party’s top voters could demotivate some of them.
“I think successful presidential candidates always stray from party orthodoxy,” said a senior congressional progressive aide, citing Trump on trade, Barack Obama’s early resistance to an individual health care mandate and support from George W. Bush to a Medicare prescription drug program.
Trump could “get his mojo back” by also moving away from Republican orthodoxy, the progressive aide said, adding that “Biden needs to maintain his credibility” on the crime issue after he broke with elements of his party in 2020.